Franklin Boswell Murrell

      Franklin Boswell Murrell, 81, of West Burlington, died at 8:40 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, 2001, at Great River Medical Center in West Burlington.

      The funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Harmony Bible Church of Danville, with the Rev. Mark Connelly officiating. Visitation will be after noon on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Elliott Chapel of New London with the family present from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Burial will be in Jaggar Cemetery of Danville. A memorial has been established to Harmony Bible Church of Danville.

      Mr. Murrell was born Jan. 22, 1920, at Meridian, Miss., the son of Thomas Kadar Murrell and Mary Otie Boswell Murrell. He married Sara Margaret Nealey of Danville on Jan. 25, 1946 in Washington, D.C., who preceded him in death on June 27, 1982. On June 1, 1984, he married Mary M. ?Peg? Dill. He graduated from high school in Summerville, Tenn., and attended the University of Tennessee where he played football. He was invited to play in the Shrine Bowl at Memphis, Tenn., in 1939.

      He was a crane operator for Burlington Northern Railroad for 31 years, retiring in 1983, and hauled grain and livestock. He was a member of the Retired Railroad Association and the Harmony Bible Church, where he was a member of the +50?s group. He loved his family, church, and raising cattle and hogs. He enjoyed hunting and many sports. Prior to his railroad work, he worked for Western Electric Telephone Company in Washington, D.C., and installed all phones in the White House during the Truman Administration.

      Survivors include his wife; two sons, Eric F. Murrell of West Burlington and Jon D. Murrell of Urbandale; two daughters, Deborah S. TeKippe of West Union and Margaret J. Bennett of Clarkson Valley, Mo.; four sisters, Dot Hathaway of Bartlett, Tenn., Annie Hobson of Canton, Ga., Sara Sooter of Vinita, Okla., and Mary Otie of Arlington, Tenn; two brothers, T.K. Murrell of Oakland, Tenn. and Charles Murrell of Cordova, Tenn.; three step-daughters, Dr. Nan Boren of Cannonsburg, Penn., Debbie Seele of Evergreen, Colo. and Jeanne Henning of Rochester, Minn.; nine grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

      He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, and a brother Walter.